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La Jetée (1962)
A man's obsession with an image of his past.
Filmmaker(s): Chris Marker

A man is sent back and forth and in and out of time in an experiment that attempts to unravel the fate and the solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world during the aftermath of WW3. The experiment results in him getting caught up in a perpetual reminiscence of past events that are recreated on an airport’s viewing pier.

Thirteen Monkeys wish I had seen this before "Twelve Monkeys." Except for "Fear and Loathing," Gilliam is artless (but reflexive). This is much more clever in how its manner (single images) reflects its story (how registration of images in the memory can fold time). Its a...


Published September 14, 2025
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The League of Gentlemen (1960)
What is the league ... Who are the gentlemen ?
Filmmaker(s): Basil Dearden

Involuntarily-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way.

The Template don't know when this genre first appeared — the ‘team heist' — but this surely is the film that defined it as a genre. A team of distinct characters. A genius planner. An incredibly elaborate plan. Lots of group dynamics, including humorous episodes. Some...


Published June 17, 2025
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Harakiri (1962)
Who can fathom the depths of another man's heart?
Filmmaker(s): Masaki Kobayashi

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Layered Stories in Conflict has to be the best movie I have seen in a while. Good luck to me that I would like to pass on to you. We have two warring narrators. The first begins the film as an entry in his journal as...


Published December 17, 2024
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Red Desert (1964)
This is the story of a woman… Her hidden thirsts and hungers…

In an industrializing Italian town, a married woman, rendered mentally unstable after a traffic accident, drifts into an affair with a friend of her husband.

Red Sea Parts I see a film and comment on it. If it is one I have seen before, that comment has folds from my life and internal imagination. Every film I have seen builds that imagination in some way. A few are profound and...


Published December 11, 2024
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Fellini: A Director’s Notebook (1969)
Filmmaker(s): Federico Fellini

Fellini discusses his views of making motion pictures and his unorthodox procedures. He seeks inspiration in various out of the way places. During this film viewers go with him to the Colisseum at night, on a subway ride past Roman ruins, to the Appian Way, to a slaughterhouse, and on a visit to Marcello Mastroianni's house. Fellini also is seen in his own office interviewing a series of unusual characters seeking work or his help.

9 1/2 Including Seven Civilisations for myself, this is the most rewarding Fellini experience I have had. That's because in his early work, where one takes risks, he was very less ambitious narrative-wise than his later work. But then when he got to the later...


Published December 11, 2024
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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The ultimate trip.
Filmmaker(s): Stanley Kubrick

Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.

Dueling Gods the disaster of ‘Sparticus.' Kubrick has centred each project on the mysteries of the narrative. Each film explores some theory or notion about the paths of storytelling and the fragility of those paths. Some get very abstract, like’Barry Lyndon,' where identities are adopted...


Published December 11, 2024
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Andrei Rublev (1966)
Filmmaker(s): Andrei Tarkovsky

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Knowledge as an Impediment follow several threads of fine films. Most of these concern intelligent notions of structure, of architecture. Welles, Greenaway, Eisenstein, Kurosawa. These mend sense and intellect enhancing both. But there is another thread, one that eschews selfaware structure -- where idea is anathema....


Published December 11, 2024
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Double Suicide: Japanese Summer (1967)
Filmmaker(s): Nagisa Ōshima

A sex-obsessed woman, a suicidal man she meets on the street, and a gun-crazy wannabe gangster become trapped in an underground hideaway.

Solid Shadows with Conflicting Death Wishes know a few of this man's films. They are among the richest experiences I know, but I was surprised at how deeply this one worked on me. The surprise comes in part from knowing how specific his target audience was....


Published December 10, 2024
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Death by Hanging (1968)
Filmmaker(s): Nagisa Ōshima

A Korean man is sentenced to death in Japan but somehow survives his execution, sending the authorities into a panic about what to do next.

Film as Execution of the benefits of writing film comments is that readers will sometimes send me recommendations. If that were the only benefit, and if this were the only recommendation I would get, it would be worth it. By reading the comments, you may think...


Published December 10, 2024
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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Nothing is written.
Filmmaker(s): David Lean

The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements.

A Vision that Defines Itself man has an inner drive that makes him peculiar and intense. He goes to the desert and falls in love with it and its people. Gaining powerful sponsors, he has a grand vision that he accomplishes by inspiring and directing...


Published December 10, 2024
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